South African private sector airline Airlink announced on Monday that it would resume serving beverages and meals on its domestic flights, with effect from Wednesday (October 27). This is the result of changes to South Africa’s biosafety regulations, which have lifted the restrictions on such in-flight services.
“Airlink, which last year expanded its operations to include main domestic routes, welcomes government’s decision to lift the ban on in-flight catering on domestic flights,” affirmed airline CEO and MD Rodger Foster. “It means we can once again provide Airlink customers with our complimentary, fresh and tasty food and beverage services.”
Airlink was set up in 1992. It now operates routes between Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as Bloemfontein, Durban, East London, George, Gqeberha, Hoedspruit, Kimberley, Mthatha, Nelspruit, Pietermaritzburg, Polokwane, Skukuza and Upington.
It also operates a network of international routes within Southern Africa and islands in the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans, encompassing 13 countries and territories. (However, currently, its services to Madagascar and St Helena remain suspended, owing to travel restrictions imposed by their authorities to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.)
Airlink is a member of the International Air Transport Association (Iata) and has been accredited under the Iata Operational Safety Audit programme. With a fleet of more than 50 modern jet airliners, the airline last month achieved (according to Airports Company South Africa) an on-time performance of 98.22% (and 97.76% for the year-to-date).